Tibetan exiles said police in
southwestern China have detained 15 Tibetans who marched in support of their
exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Tibetan exiles based in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala
said they learned of the arrests after speaking by telephone with residents of
China's Sichuan province.

The Tibetan exiles said
Chinese police detained 14 activists who staged a peaceful pro-Tibet march
Monday in the town of Litang in Sichuan's Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture.
They said a Tibetan monk staged a similar protest in Litang a day
earlier.

The Tibetan exiles said the
demonstrators chanted slogans praising the Dalai Lama and calling for Tibetan
independence before being beaten and detained by Chinese police.

The protests and arrests could not be independently confirmed.
China does not allow foreign reporters into Tibetan regions without official
permission.

The Dharamsala-based Tibetan
Center for Human Rights and Democracy condemned what it called the brutal use of
force by Chinese security forces on peaceful Tibetan demonstrators. It urged
China to disclose the location of the detainees and release them
unharmed.

Beijing has barred foreigners
from Tibetan areas ahead of next month's 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan
uprising against Chinese rule.